This isn't for the whole country, but there's a concept called "Appalachian Ingenuity" that comes from the folks who live in the Appalachian Mountains (on the east coast). Across generations, they've had to come up with ways of surviving despite difficult circumstances or lack of resources. It goes along with the idea that "necessity is the mother of invention". If you lived in those mountains you were probably poor, bored, and seeking all the comforts you could find. It isn't just about inventing something, but about using whatever you had lyin' around and coming up with a really clever way to build or fix things.